The Slut and the Falcon
by ExquisiteRose
Summary: Charlie writes The Slut and the Falcon for Sam and Patrick.


_A/N: For Richard._

_._

I guess we have to begin with the beginning.

You see, I can't just begin saying the Slut isn't a slut, or the Falcon isn't a crazy bad-ass side-kick bird, like he'd like to be (he actually said that). You wouldn't believe me if I told you that the story doesn't begin-_can't _begin-after one of the Slut and the Falcon's amazing victories against the evil doers who attempt to destroy their Island of Misfit Toys, saving a young man from collapsing in an unknown terrain their enemies whisked him to, full of false friends and delusions of reality...

I guess you could say it begins with a kiss from a man not her age.

Or maybe the day a marriage brought the two most amazing crime-fighters together in holy sibling-hood.

But really, it begins on the day they invited him on a drive with them and they made him feel infinite.

...

The Wallflower was aware that heroes didn't exist in his reality. If they did, they probably would have saved him a lot sooner.

Or maybe they were too busy saving themselves. He's not really sure, but he figures, either way, he can't really fault them because he's doing really great now.

Whether the Slut and the Falcon are actual super heroes, he'll leave that to someone else to decide. All he knows is that they saved his life, and he supposes that's heroic in its own right, although they'd disagree. See, the Slut and the Falcon don't "save" friends. If they saved friends, they wouldn't be who they are, and Wallflower wouldn't have friends, he'd have heroes.

And he doesn't need heroes. There's no such thing.

...

In all the comic book stories, when the heroes find someone who means a lot to them, they risk everything by revealing their secret identities.

There's no great reveal with the Slut and the Falcon. Wallflower has always known their secret identities, just like they've always known his super power.

In the end, all the drama and fanfare of a dramatic reveal is wasted. They're tired of drama. And Wallflower is tired of trying to hide. The Slut and the Falcon are tired of always being out in the open.

They're friends that way.

...

The Slut and the Falcon could fly.

The Wallflower first saw the Slut do it on the night he felt infinite. She flew through the tunnel, arms beating and air sending her dress's ends flapping behind her. Her laugh tinkled along with the music playing in the background and lightened his soul. The Wallflower almost couldn't _breathe_, he felt so light.

He wondered that night if he would end up flying, too.

.

The Wallflower only saw the Falcon fly by chance, ironic given his namesake.

The Falcon had a habit of giving the impression that he could always fly, from his chosen title to his smile that defied gravity, a weighted frown never marring his expression. The Wallflower had always believed, from the Falcon's name and the Slut's flying, the Falcon could fly as well.

If the Wallflower hadn't been friends with the Falcon, he might never have had the opportunity. If the Wallflower and the Falcon hadn't had their friendship strengthened that fateful day the Falcon almost lost his strength, the Wallflower supposes he never would have seen him fly at all.

The Wallflower and the Falcon know that the only reason the Falcon ended up flying was because he had finally fallen from the nest. Even so, they don't mention it much.

The Falcon flew after he fell-and he did that all by himself.

...

The Wallflower had _understood_ the Slut and the Falcon's weaknesses only many weeks after first meeting them.

He has _known_ of their weaknesses since week one, but he has never exploited them and has always accepted them. The Slut's weakness was not commitment, as you might expect from her name, but doing anything to _retain_ commitment, to _find_ commitment.

This isn't a weakness in and of itself. The only reason it proved almost fatal to the Slut was because she so wanted commitment that she would always commit herself more than the other and ignore signs that indicated otherwise.

But that weakness still never cut off her wings, and her strength had been found long ago, in another beginning that managed to give her her power rather than break her.

In the end, when the Wallflower and the Slut went their separate ways, she proved again that her power always meant _more_ than her weakness, in that she never _allowed_ a weakness because that is where her strength came from, and with each weakness, she gained more strength.

The Wallflower didn't worry for her when she left.

No one would ever cut off her wings. She would never let them.

...

The Falcon's weakness also led to blindness-a selective blindness.

Whereas the Slut longed for commitment, the Falcon longed for devotion; a love so impenetrable that it could have withstood even what the Falcon could not fight.

The Falcon allowed himself to be ignored, denied, and humiliated in the name of love, and the Wallflower, despite how the love lost lingered even after its dissolution, witnessed the Falcon's fall as a result.

He'd also witnessed the Falcon's wings sprout into being and his confidence soar.

The Wallflower knew the Falcon had figured out the strength hidden in his weakness when he finally flew. As corny as it seems, the Falcon had realized he'd always have the devotion of his friends-and devotion to himself _as_ himself.

...

In all the comic book stories, the heroes become heroes through their tribulations and sense of duty to their people, their _wallflowers_, their misfit toys.

The funny thing about the Slut and the Falcon is that they're not super heroes-they're not even regular heroes. In fact, they're not even crime-fighters. They're just a boy and a girl-_no,_ a_ man_ and a _woman_-who care for their friends enough to save them-and themselves-because nobody else will.

There are no heroes. There's no such thing.

But maybe someday, it'll be okay just being Sam, Patrick, and Charlie, three average people, making their way through life and finding _themselves_, their own personal super heroes, who have been guiding them their entire lives.


End file.
